A WonderBat for Christmas
by MaidenOfTheWorld
Summary: [For the WonderBat Secret Santa Holiday event on tumblr!] Bruce pulls Diana away from a fundraiser to ask for her help tracking down a newly formed criminal group that's rising up in Gotham City. Despite the Christmas season, Diana is more than willing to help Bruce, especially if it means she can finally see this Gotham that he loves so much.
1. Chapter 1

"Excuse me for a moment," Diana asked apologetically as the Bluetooth headset in her ear picked up on an incoming frequency. The museum fundraiser was settling down but hadn't quite reached its conclusion yet. Nevertheless, if there was a call coming from the Justice League Headquarters, she had to risk offending the other attendees and answer.

Her assistant waved her hand gently and offered an understanding grin. "No problem, I'll follow up with the Gotham Museum director before the end of the night, and I'll email you with the details by tomorrow morning. Merry Christmas, Diana."

"Merry Christmas, Dee," She was beaming, eternally grateful for the wonderful woman she had for her assistant. The two of them waved at one another as they turned to walk off in different directions and once she had exited the gallery, her Wonder Woman persona slipped into place. "Wonder Woman here."

"_You're needed somewhere_." Was the blunt way in which Bruce decided to inform her of her next mission.

Unimpressed with his lack of manners, she planted her hands on her hips while she made her way down a long corridor that would lead her to the museum's parking garage. "Says the man who skipped out on one of the biggest fundraisers of the year in his own city."

"_Don't you think that I'd be there if there wasn't something more pressing going on?_" There was some bite to his words. It was the subtle way he tried to give her some attitude without pushing her buttons too seriously. After working together for two years and playful toying with the idea of dating for a handful of months, she'd started to unravel the thought process of Bruce Wayne despite his preference of hiding his authentic self behind that cowl of his.

Arching a brow as if he could see it, she retorted, "I don't know, you've been keeping yourself rather busy these past few days. This is the first time I'm speaking to you directly since I landed in Gotham."

"_Right. And there's_—"

"At least it's given me a chance to bond with Alfred whenever I called to speak with you."

"—_a reason for my silence. If you would let me tell you what that is…_" He let the comment hang in the air just in case she interrupted him again, she knew.

Diana skipped down a set of steps as she entered the museum's lobby. "Tell me, then."

"_There's a new crime syndicate that's opened up shop in Gotham. I've had a few members of my team hunting down possible bases of operations around the city while I've been tracking their movements from the Batcave. The problem is, I think they're onto us. I need someone who isn't Gotham-based to sneak around and locate their central hideout._" Explained the calm and collected Batman.

Diana pushed the down arrow button in the hallway of elevators. While she waited for it to arrive, she questioned, "You're asking me to help _you_ with a city-related issue?"

"_I've already emailed the coordinates I need you to start at_." How sharp his tone was! Diana could hear the words he was thinking while he answered her via the deadpan way he spoke: what do you think?

The elevator dinged, indicating that the doors were opening. She cleared her throat as she hopped inside so that he wouldn't hear her snicker at his irritation. Over the course of their many missions together, Diana had learned the valuable lesson of finding humor in the simple moments in order to maintain her tolerance of him when he was at his crankiest. Winding him up when she wasn't in his presence was one of the ways she managed that.

Just before she clicked off the call, at the same moment that the elevator doors began to close, Diana made sure to add one last sassy remark. "It's a true Christmas miracle."

A heavy sigh crackled through the other side of the line just as she tapped the earpiece which gave her a great deal of satisfaction.

* * *

_**This is a WonderBat Secret Santa gift for the amazing artist Dee_stroyer on Twitter! **_

She is such a phenomenal person let alone a huge contributor to the WonderBat community, and I was so excited to get her name for this event!

The story is belated because the idea just kept expanding until it kinda got out of control...but I hope you still enjoy it, Dee!


	2. Chapter 2

Arriving at the coordinates he had sent her wasn't all that difficult for Diana.

Neither was changing into her armor.

Her only challenge was trying to figure out what it was she was meant to find in the alleyway between two of the Gotham Tower Apartments in the Diamond District that he sent her to when he hadn't necessarily given her any solid information to work with other than that there were brand new criminals in Gotham City.

'_In other news…_'

"Wonder Woman?" A young gentlemanly voice beckoned for her attention from down the dimly lit alley way. He sounded surprised, but in a way that seemed as though he was happy to see her. As Diana approached the mysterious man, she slowly made out the details of the skin tight suit he wore and the pair of long metal sticks he held in tightly gripped fists. When he was no more than a few steps away, he shoved the pair of them into one hand so he could offer her the other. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Nightwing."

"Oh," she didn't mean to sound stunned by the encounter, but Diana had been wondering for a while now when she was going to meet the members of the 'Batclan'. It had taken too long in her opinion. To introduce herself to Dick Grayson while on a random mission felt inappropriate on her part, so she rushed to take his hand in hers. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"He mentioned he might call in a League member to help, but he didn't say who it would be." Dick explained gleefully.

"I'm happy to lend a hand in any way that I can." She promised.

It was at that moment that Dick suddenly turned rather bashful. "That'd be great because actually… I sort of need to get back to my _other _job. You know, the one that pays for this one."

She immediately nodded her head in understanding. "What have you discovered so far then?" asked a curious Diana as she walked past him and began to survey the alley way. "These coordinates must be significant for Batman to send me here, but it just looks like your typical alley way."

It was dark, as if the bricks of the building were black instead of the cement gray that they truly were. There was a massive dumpster at the opposite end but the garbage that littered the entire pathway made her wonder if it was actually empty. She couldn't help but notice the fire escape ladder that was off to her left and fully intended to leap onto the rooftop to scope out any possible criminal activity up there as well. Otherwise, there didn't seem to be anything special about the place Bruce sent her to. Unless this new syndicate had a trick door somewhere in the side of the buildings that took them to a secret lair underground, Diana wondered what the true importance of this place could be.

"I think he said that he caught one of the criminals he was following enter this alley by watching the footage from a pizza parlor across the street, but he never came out." Nightwing told her, sounding like he was reading off of a script. Then, there was a lengthy pause before he spoke again. "Are you okay if I take off then? Sorry to cut our first meeting short, but they really need me back at work."

Imitating her assistant Dee, Diana waved him off as politely as could be as she looked over the alley one more time. "Go, it's okay."

"Great, thanks!" He shouted his appreciation at her before disappearing in a flash. His presence evaporated from behind her, leaving her completely on her own to discover the mystery of the latest bad guys in Gotham.

Being in the alley was beginning to frustrate her, though. There weren't any corners to hide around, there weren't any bags of trash lined up that could be concealing anything from her view. The only true obstruction would be the dumpster and Diana almost activated her superhuman strength to reach it in record time and peek inside. The smell alone was enough to make her curse Bruce internally. It was so unlike him to call for her help, never mind the fact that he gave her absolutely no information to work with. Now, she was digging through a dumpster?

"Let's try this instead." She grumbled to herself as she tossed her head back to look at the sky. Bending her knees, Diana propelled herself onto the very rooftop that was connected to the fire escape she noticed when she first arrived. The cool evening breeze swept her hair back over her shoulders once she landed and the sun was barely sitting on the horizon, providing her with enough sunlight to take in the almost luxurious city escape she was greeted with. There were lawn chairs and trees and a bar next to the vestibule. It was a gorgeous rooftop patio, which immediately gave her the impression that she wouldn't find the signs of any major criminal activity in such a beautiful city oasis.

Still, she had to check.

Diana began to weave through the lawn chairs that were set up, scoping out the entire length of every single one to see if any clues were taped to the back of one of the chairs or had fallen to the floor. Her dark brown eyes scanned over every single piece of furniture and foliage until she reached the bar. Then, she spotted it: a lone drink sitting behind the counter, placed precariously on the edge of a lone napkin. There were drops of condensation running along the tall drink glass that looked to be filled with a cocktail-like mixture. Someone had made the beverage and left it sitting there for quite a while, it was easy to tell. However, it was the symbol that was printed on the napkin that drew her attention.

Eagerly, she snatched up the napkin in her hand and examined it closely.

"Batman," Diana called out to him through the comms.

"_Oracle here_," sang a friendly-sounded woman in her ear. "_Is this Wonder Woman?_"

"Yes, it is. I was hoping to get Batman to confirm something for me."

"_Let me help you with that. There's nothing I don't know about this city_." Guaranteed the self-identified Oracle.

Diana's brows knitted together in confusion. "He told you I was here?"

"_Uh…huh! Yeah, he mentioned you might need some help so I took over the frequency for a little bit. But I promise I can help you with any question you might have. Whatcha got?_" The woman talking into her ear sounded almost desperate to assist her in any way that she could.

"I found a lone drink at the bar of this building he sent me to, and it had a napkin with a black fish on it, decorated with a circle that looks like it was painted with a calligraphy brush." Diana described the logo with as much detail as possible to help her identify it.

It took her literal milliseconds to answer her curiosity. "_That's the logo for the Black Bass Bar. It's located in the East End, so… um, where are you exactly?_"

"I'm at the Gotham Tower Apartments." Diana stated.

"_Okay, so it's essentially to the North-East of you. You'll need to cross the Finger River, or Miller Harbor, depending on which route you take_." Oracle suggested, trying to give her options of how to get to her destination.

That was kind of her but unfortunately unnecessary. All Diana needed to do was toss her head towards the setting sun to get her bearings. "North-East, you said?"

"_Yes_." Oracle confirmed.

"Great, thank you," Diana said softly as she turned to face the direction she'd need to head in, planting her feet and gently bouncing on her knees. "If I need your help again, I'll be sure to give you a call, Oracle."

"_Happy to help!_" The young woman cheered into her ear at the exact moment began to Diana catapult herself from one rooftop to the next.


	3. Chapter 3

When she landed, Wonder Woman knew to roll herself across the roof of the Black Bass Bar so as to avoid dropping her weight in one loud thud on top of the bar. Her focus was on the large black door that would lead her through the staircase, where she could sneak into the building undetected. Her plan was to analyze the terrain of the bar, report back to Bruce (or Oracle, most likely) then visit the Justice League Headquarters to get some more information about this criminal syndicate she was supposed to be investigating. She had been informed of the situation rather quickly by Batman and he had made it sound serious enough.

Diana couldn't help but find it strange that she had no other information to work with, though.

Nightwing had left her.

She couldn't talk to Bruce, only the woman Oracle.

'_And to top it off, I don't have a clue what I'm supposed to be looking for!_'

Frustrated ever so slightly by the situation Bruce had placed her in, Diana was more than happy to observe and report and make her way back to base. She had left poor Dee to work the room of rich elites and art collectors all on her own… for what? Perhaps she was really hunting down treacherous criminals that Bruce really knew nothing about. Even so, it all felt like a wild goose chase to her and she couldn't quite understand why—

"Steph, please!"

"Will you knock it off?" Argued a fiery young lady on a lower flight of stairs. "You act like you've never dressed yourself before."

There was a slight growl in her partner's voice when he replied, however, it didn't sound anywhere near as intimidating as he most likely hoped it would. "I know how to tie a tie! I just don't think this kind of place calls for it!"

A disbelieving snort was her only response.

Diana stayed close to the railing as she approached the bickering couple. She eyed them carefully from the platform above, watching the blonde girl take back the tie she had been trying to adorn her boyfriend with, she could only assume. He appeared to be rather grateful for her release of his neck and rubbed the length of it as if he had reclaimed it from some kind of danger. They were a rather interesting pair, she couldn't help but notice, but there was something else that caught her eye that was much more fascinating than their dynamic.

"Excuse me," called Diana as she revealed herself to the pair of them. Both of them seemed to be surprised that she had snuck up on them even though that was her very intention before she spotted the clothes they had piled up on the floor. "You work with Batman, don't you?"

"Yes, we do. You must be—"

"Wonder Woman!" Squealed the blonde girl with her feet carrying up the steps to greet her at a breakneck speed. Diana realized that her uniform made her just as recognizable as theirs had, even when folded up and discarded so casually. She took the young woman's hand but she focused on the man with the red and black costume that came complete with a cape, a visible accessory even when it was all piled up together by his feet.

"It's an honor to meet you. We've heard so much about you from Batman, well, and the news. I'm Tim, and this is Stephanie."

"We're actually here because of Batman. That's why you're here too, right?" Inquired a bubbly Stephanie.

Diana nodded. "Is that why you changed out of your uniforms? You're going to mingle with the criminals?"

For some reason, Stephanie turned to look at Tim, expecting him to answer her. With both of their gazes on him, Diana watched the ward of the stoic Bruce Wayne fumble with his cool composure. "Uh, yeah, absolutely. Got to get as much information as we can, right?"

"Very well," Diana nodded her head, devising a new plan that included their help. "I'll tell Oracle to connect our comms. That way, you can go in and try to get some information while I stay back. If you need back up, I'll jump in to assist you."

"Back up?" Stephanie's high pitch implied that she was not pleased with this strategy. "How often do we get the chance to say we worked with Wonder Woman!? No, you have to join us."

She didn't mean to, but Diana's upper body drew back as she shot an incredulous look at Stephanie, who was dressed in a lovely purple dress that nearly touched the floor. "I doubt I could blend in as easily as you when I'm dressed like this." In one fluid hand motion, she motioned to her full set of armor.

"I have extra clothes with me. At least try them on and see if they fit." Stephanie most likely assumed she was making a request, but it truly came out like a friendly order. She returned to the landing where she had left her belongings and dug through the backpack she had brought with her. At her side, a bashful Tim cleared his throat. Then, he pointed to the lower levels as he kindly excused himself. "I'll meet you both inside."

As his dress shoes click-clacked on the metal stairs, Stephanie ripped through her backpack to locate the second outfit she had with her. Curiously, Diana couldn't help but ask, "You're really prepared, bringing multiple outfits for an infiltration mission."

"Oh yeah, I even have a wig." Stated the clever superhero, sounding very proud of herself. When she located the attire she was looking for, Stephanie shot up and handed it over to Diana. "Here! If you want a wig, I can give you one. But I think you'll be fine with this. I'll leave you alone to change, and we'll see you inside, okay?"

"Sure." Was her lone-worded reply as she tried to make sense of the clothes she'd been given.

Stephanie simply grinned. Her excitement was evident in the way she waved at her while walking down the stairs to reach the main level, most likely to catch up to Tim. Once she disappeared from sight, it was Diana could do not to quizzically grimace at the outfit in her hands. Yes, it was lovely. Gorgeous, even. Nevertheless…

'_This looks like it'll fit me, but Stephanie and I do _not_ wear the same size pants or shoes._ _Hmmm_.'

* * *

When Diana entered the Black Bass Bar through the front entrance, it felt somewhat strange. After all, she had planned to infiltrate the place through much sneakier methods just minutes ago. Now, she was sauntering through the front door in a two-piece outfit that suited her fancy instead of busting through the back entrance in her armor.

Her pencil-styled pants were a warm cream color that coordinated with her top, which was a long jacket-like shirt that tied at her waist. It was a luxurious material that she found was too alluring not to play with whenever it rustled against her fingers. Even the height of her white gold heels made her feel elegant. Feminine, really. The kind of womanly pride that she'd love to bask in.

The overall dive appeal of the bar stole that away from her immediately, however. She was dressed much too fancy for the likes of the East End of Gotham City.

Steeling herself against the many leers she was receiving, Diana met the eyes of Stephanie and Tim who were stationed at the opposite end of the bar from the counter. She nodded at them ever so slightly before returning her attention to room overall.

The bar itself was off to her right, taking up a large portion of the space that wasn't preoccupied by a pool table, jukebox and dance floor. It wrapped around a massive display of alcohol and the bartender behind it. Diana realized that it would serve her best to sit at a spot that faced the entrance so she could keep tabs on anyone who entered or exited the building, so she carried herself with a bit more attitude than usual as she made her way around the corner of the row of stools placed at the counter.

She spotted the perfect seat for her to occupy during her surveillance, but her attention was immediately diverted when she noticed someone peeking out from a rather cramped hallway a few steps away. A girl – most likely a teenager, nowhere near old enough to be hanging out in an establishment such as this – met her eyes for a moment or two, causing her to slow her pace on her way to her seat. She appeared to be a rather serious person, her chin-length hair framing the tightness of her face. It was instinctive for her to want to strike up a conversation with the mysterious adolescent, to try and see if there was something she needed help with, given where they were.

Until the girl spun away from her gaze and bolted out of sight.

'_Wait!_' Diana wanted to say. Instead, she ignored the curious leering from the other patrons and quickened her steps to appear at all normal while trying to chase down the mysterious teenager. As she entered the hall, she noticed that it diverted into a second hallway, and after staring down the very end of it, she noticed right away how the bathroom door swung shut. Her body pivoted and continued at the same swift momentum that could be heard in the sharpness of her heels. Her fist met the door of the lone bathroom in the bar and slammed into it with the full intention of throwing it open.

To her surprise, she spotted the teen girl crawling out the window above the stall. "You don't need to run!" begged an impatient Diana.

She flew towards the stall and threw open the door, preparing to leap at the window to snatch the girl's ankle before she could make her escape…!

But when she stepped on something that did not feel like aluminum tile, she was distracted long enough to miss her opportunity. Diana bent down to see what the thick stack under the sole of her shoe was and discovered a folded set of what appeared to be government papers. Worried that they belonged to the escaping teen, she snatched them up and kept up her chase. Exiting the washroom, she merely had to turn to her right to find the exit marked for shipments and deliveries. For the third time in a matter of seconds, she charged through yet another doorway in the hopes of tracking down the girl.

And once more, she was standing in an alleyway with nothing to show for her efforts.

Diana couldn't believe how much she was panting, given that her physical exertion wasn't all that great. Still, the panic in her chest was enough to cause her some strain. Clutching the bunch of papers in her hands due to aggravation reminded her that she was holding them. "Right," she said softly to herself if only to get her to focus. With nimble hands, the papers were laid flat in her grip as she examined them with the proficiency of a historian. What she discovered, sadly, only panicked her further.

"A passport application?" She gasped, genuinely surprised. The document wasn't entirely filled in but if it did belong to the teenage girl she had been chasing, the implications of what that could mean – given the chase that she was on – were in fact alarming. If Bruce believed that there was a new crime syndicate growing in the dirty underbelly of Gotham City and she had just encountered a young girl with a passport application in a bar, it could mean that there were genuine concerns for a human trafficking ring forming.

Diana knew it wasn't a lot of information to go on, and she also knew that it was unfair to assume that just because the girl ran away that she was being trafficked. The only conclusion she could make was that if there was, in fact, a crime taking place, the pieces of the puzzle presented to her thus far could, in fact, lead to a group of human traffickers.

It didn't help that the only completed portion of the application in her hands was the information about a student who went to Gotham University.

"I guess that's where I'll be heading next." Her disappointment was palpable, but her fear was threatening to take over.

Maybe she was wrong to assume that there was something off about this investigation.

Maybe Bruce had really needed her help on Christmas day to make sure that someone else's Christmas was saved.


	4. Chapter 4

Exiting the taxi, Diana took in the massive, authoritative presence of Gotham University. It was perhaps one of the largest campuses she'd ever seen, stacked with towering buildings of academia that looked just as haunting as the rest of the city did. She wasn't the least bit surprised when she noticed that it even had a bell tower with a Roman numeral clock overseeing the quad, with only minutes to go until eight o'clock in the evening. Many crimes occurred under the guise of darkness in this particular city, she knew, so she couldn't afford to waste a moment of her time.

Still dressed in the outfit that Stephanie loaned her, Diana savored the cool touch of her bracelets along her forearms as she sauntered along one of the many pathways leading into the grandest of all of the university buildings. Should any trouble arrive, Wonder Woman knew she could handle herself so long as she had them. There had been times where she'd been excavating a site or simply visiting a public landmark when villains of some threat level had caused a ruckus; they had managed to get her out of multiple frightening, troublesome situations in her century-long journey through Man's World.

If there was one weapon she was never without, it was her bracelets.

"Looks like you made it, after all."

Diana whipped around, her coat-like top flying through the air as she spun around to meet the person who spoke with such a haughty tone of voice to her. She tried to locate the person addressing her but she couldn't find anyone at her eye level. Slowly, her head fell until she made eye contact with…

"I'm Damian." Was how he greeted himself, this teenage boy that only came up to the height of her ribs. No hand was offered, no family name. Just his first name as if she should know who he was.

"I didn't realize someone was waiting for me." His attitude put Diana on guard.

Rolling his eyes, Damian spat out, "He didn't tell you I was going to be here? Typical. He always has to take the most difficult approach with everything."

"He?" questioned Diana, before realization dawned on her a second later. "You must be speaking about Bruce."

"Ha," he sounded impressed, but his eyes really illustrated to her the extent of his newfound interest in speaking to her. "Of course I am."

"Then is it safe for me to assume that you're a member of his…family?" asked a curious Diana.

Bluntly, Damian explained, "I'm the _only_ legitimate member of his family, but" – the way his eyes darted around, the way he stiffened suddenly put even Diana on edge – "I suppose you can call our makeshift clan a 'family'."

She hadn't a clue what it was that caused him to panic so randomly, but now that their greetings were over, her original purpose for being at the campus returned to the forefront of her mind. "Well Damian, are you able to assist me with this mission he's sent me on? I'm concerned that we might be dealing with a criminal group that is involved with human trafficking."

"Absolutely. What do you have there?" Pointing to her left hand, he refused to waste any time.

Diana presented the bundle of papers she'd retrieved from the washroom of the Black Bass Bar, folded with the section about the university presented clearly. "I discovered this passport application when I was following the trail of the possible criminals that Bruce sent me after. Not much of it is filled out except for some information about this school."

He didn't verbally request a look at the document, he simply held out an expectant hand. She presented it to him wordlessly as well, and stood there silently, arms crossed as he studied the words written in pen on the application. After a handful of quiet moments, Damian explained to her, "This address is for a specific dormitory. I'll take you there." On the heel of his foot, the 'legitimate' member of the Batclan turned in the direction of their destination and headed off on his way.

Diana skipped over to his side and immediately voiced a curiosity she'd had since she encountered him on the quad, "Do you attend this school, Damian? You're able to navigate it so easily."

"I will, one day." There was nothing but unbridled confidence in his voice when he answered her. "I'm on track to come here after graduating from Gotham Academy at the top of my class."

"That's very respectable." Was all she could think to say to him in response. She was more so fixated on the fact that a high school student memorized the layout of the campus of a school he had yet to attend. Damian spoke very sharply – even introducing himself with an almost aristocratic authority – so he presented the knowledge he had as factual with everything he said. It was so very Bruce that she could believe they were related even without Damian stating so.

With the softest tone he had used yet, Damian kindly replied to her compliment by offering a simple, "Thank you."

Talking to him felt like she was speaking to Bruce 2.0, which was strangely comforting to Diana for a reason she dare not analyze too closely.

Luckily, they arrived at the dormitory doors shortly and she was able to put her focus towards the mission once again. Damian grabbed the doorknob and waited for her to enter the building first before following her inside. Diana walked through the doorway and nearly bumped into a pair of students, apologized gently, then looked at their choices of either wandering down a hall of dorm rooms or climbing the stairs to the second level. However, there was a very obvious observation she felt the need to state, "This is a women's dormitory."

"You're looking for a girl, aren't you?" Damian pointed out.

Diana wondered if he could recall the fact that she never admitted that to him. Slyly, she answered, "Yes, I am."

"Okay then," he clapped his hands together and took off. "Let's get looking."

For some reason, Diana felt like this leg of her trip through Gotham City was nothing more than her been dragged around by a young Damian Wayne. Whereas Nightwing fled and Tim and Stephanie casually sat off to the side at the bar, it seemed as though Damian had no patience for the mystery of this crime syndicate they were hunting down.

It calmed Diana somewhat, as it made her believe that perhaps her original assumption about this whole wild goose chase or scavenger hunt was nothing more than just that.

"How do you think we should locate the girl from the bar?" Diana feigned ignorance as she followed him down the hallway. She watched the girls talking in the hallway give them odd looks, but she paid them no mind. Instead, she focused on the brashness that was her tour guide.

"Look at the names on the doors." Ordered Damian.

Diana interrogated him immediately, "But the application didn't have her name on it."

There was indeed a beat that passed between them. The conversation lagged and there was no way to deny it. Nevertheless, Damian retained his evidently signature composure and declared, "It's the end of the first semester, so every dorm should still have two roommates. Any room that only has one could mean that there might be other girls missing. We can then interrogate the remaining roommate, which will give us more information than just searching for one girl, obviously."

His brashness didn't bother her one bit since it most likely stemmed from him being flustered when being stumped. The boy at the top of his class at Gotham Academy did not like being tested, it would seem.

Still, Diana obliged him. She turned her attention to the dormitory doors and examined every single one of the names that were stamped onto the nameplates that rested upon the doors. All of the plates claimed that every room had a pair of roommates, just like Damian said they would. Every single one had both the girls' first and last names—

"Oh," Diana was stopped in her tracks when she noticed something odd. When her hand missed patting Damian on the shoulder to garner his attention, she had to call to him. "Wait."

"What is it?"

"This name here is…different. It's just 'A. Goodwin'." She pointed to the nameplate while reading it aloud, then she turned to look down at her investigation partner.

Damian's hand flew to his chin as if he was taking a moment to think about it. But it took no time at all for him to 'deduce' what the abnormality could mean. "There is an airport in Gotham called 'Archie Goodwin International Airport'. Perhaps it's a clue."

That theory earned him a quizzical look from Diana. "A clue that the traffickers left behind about where they take the girls their trafficking?"

Her suspicions frustrated him, and Damian made it well known to her. "What else could it mean!? It's not like there's a girl named Archie anywhere in the world."

"We don't know that the 'A' stands for Archie," Diana argued. She shouldn't have been amused by his lack of control over his emotions when she applied the slightest bit of pressure to him, and yet she most certainly was.

What Diana thought would devolve into an argument in a women's dormitory that would result in them being kicked off the campus, actually ended before it began. Damian deflated with a rather hefty sigh and planted his hands on his hips. Then, he looked up at her and asked, "For the record, how long have you suspected that something wasn't right about this 'mission' that he sent you on?"

"Since I encountered Nightwing."

That immediately put a smile on the usually serious boy's face. Pleased with her response, he chose that as the moment to spill the truth to her, "Just head to the airport. Everything will make sense when you get there."

Diana couldn't help but chuckle at the way he crumbled. In retrospect, Damian ended up being the most helpful member of the Batclan that she had encountered. His help did come at the cost of spoiling where Bruce's final objective was located, but after running around Gotham City for the past couple of hours, she was happy to get some solid directions.

With a smile of gratitude, she offered her hand to Damian long after it was due and gave him her utmost gratitude, "Thank you, Damian."

Returning to his stoic self, the young man took her hand and shook only once as he replied, "You're welcome, Diana."

Then, he let her go.

And off she went, ready to storm Archie Goodwin International Airport if it meant she could find the Batman and put an end to this false chase of his!


	5. Chapter 5

Diana arrived at the tarmac on foot after leaping towards the location of where she gathered the airport was. She saw a plane with its wheels down overhead while still at Gotham University and hopped across many more rooftops as she followed it to the airport. However, she spotted a lone jet plane with a man in a black trench coat standing next to it on its one stretch of gravel and knew exactly where she was supposed to go. She nearly skid to a halt as she landed a meager fifteen feet away from him, but she found the strength to bellow at him, "Bruce!"

"You made it." Somehow, he sounded cocky when he greeted her.

"You're diabolical." She scolded him as she swallowed a huge gust of air. Walking towards him, her fists were balled up at her side, turning just as red as her winded face was.

He paid very little attention to her exhaustion. He just continued to smile at her with that lopsided grin of his that she normally wished to see more of. Tonight, she could do without it.

Or so she thought.

As soon as she was standing directly before him, Bruce whispered most sincerely, "Merry Christmas, Diana."

"Are you insane!?" She fought back. "What part of that goose chase was supposed to be 'merry'!?"

"What, you didn't enjoy seeing some of Gotham?" Bruce knew he was teasing her, and he didn't even try to hide it as one of the pilots came over and whispered something in his ear. Admittedly, the tarmac was very loud, which was why she was putting so much force into her voice while yelling at him. He might have assumed that she was only emphasizing her words by screaming, but Diana fully intended to impress upon him the fury she was feeling.

"I know you like to keep people out of your city, but if you were going to offer me a tour, I would have preferred that you did so personally and in a less convoluted way!"

"But you had tour guides." Was his cool reply.

As he returned his full attention to her, Diana stepped even closer. She was cheek to cheek with him now, just like she was during the very first conversation they ever had at that museum many moons ago. The last time they were so physically close, they were challenging one another in an intellectual, almost sensual way. She had stolen something from him and he had been hunting her ever since. Now, the sentiment she had for him was nothing more than confusion after the time he had taken from her, "You sent your children to watch over me while I decrypted your ridiculous riddles!"

Her realization stole some of his thunder, as he most likely had hoped it would have all climaxed into a surprise for her when she arrived at the airport. "You kept demanding to meet them."

"Most people just host a Christmas party in their home and invite their entire family!" She screamed over the engine sounds of a nearby plane racing down the runway.

In return, he shouted back at her, "There isn't time for a party! No one else is coming with us!"

Diana drew back now so that they were nose to nose. "Coming with us where!?"

"To Bermuda!" He finally revealed.

"What!?" Diana screeched.

Despite the shock keeping her stuck in place, Bruce was visibly bored of the gimmick of yelling at each other outside of his private jet and decided to lead her inside. Taking her hand, he guided the way up the attached staircase until they passed through the doorway of his plane and were comfortably standing inside the cabin. Diana looked around and saw the luxurious living room-like set up inside. There was cream-toned leather all around her with wood accents to make the space feel much cozier than she would have ever imagined. It was beautifully designed in her opinion, especially with her eyes fixated on the home theater set up that was positioned over the top of an electric fireplace.

But she was really awestricken by the king-sized bed she couldn't help but notice that sat behind a pair of glass doors.

"Bruce," she hummed as he dropped his coat on the bench seat. "What on Earth is going on?"

Now that it was quiet, his bravado had lessened greatly. Alone with each other inside of his jet, it was only their voices echoing back at them that he had to contend with when he spoke loud enough just for her to hear, "It was a Christmas… scavenger hunt."  
"Set up as an extremely dastardly criminal scheme." Diana finished his sentence for him.

Bruce faced her with the scowl she was much more familiar with. "You have been complaining for quite a while now that I have never taken you through Gotham, and you've complained even more loudly about how I keep my life with the league and my team separate."

"I have." Was her honest reply.

"Well, I thought I'd give you the full Gotham experience."

"All so you could… take me to Bermuda?"

"The locations you visited actually make a triangle on a map, which was the final hint."

"Oh," She sounded impressed momentarily, as it was a particularly clever tidbit about his overall plan.

Her surprise did not impress him, however. Removing his hands from his pockets, he began to approach her in a slow but heavy stride. "Did you even examine the information you were finding as you ran around?"

Prepared to defend herself, Diana met the power of his steps with a pace of her own. "I most certainly did."

"Then how come I feel like I am spelling everything out for you right now, at the end of your trip around the city?" Bruce questioned her. She could see it in his eyes how he was scrutinizing her every movement, her every word and the tone with which she'd speak them.

Carefully, Diana answered him in a calm, polite voice, "Maybe it's because your scheme wasn't as well-crafted as you assumed."

"So I should count myself lucky that you made it here in time to take off?" questioned a playful Bruce, a shocking and rare persona of his to see. He was standing before her again, but without the winds on the tarmac trying to bowl them over, Diana could feel the warmth from his body through his layers of clothes. It felt so frighteningly intimate that it was all she could do to keep standing there. If she dared to move, she worried he might pull away from her like he always managed to do.

Much to her surprise, he stayed absolutely still. Staring deep into her eyes, his chilled, weary expression appeared to hold some kind of warmth that she found herself gravitating towards. Diana heard herself reply even though she hadn't thought of how she should have responded, "I'd say so."

There it was again: that half-smirk of his she rather fancied.

"Well, I wouldn't want to go on this trip by myself."

"You're really taking me to Bermuda?"

"I am." He spoke with such heart that she could tell he had been thinking about this trip for a while.

Those gears in his head must have been mulling over the trip plans for weeks, months possibly as he considered stealing Wonder Woman away from the world for the holidays. The eager, impulsive part of her dared to ask, "Why?"

"Because…" Though he trailed off, his intensity never lessened. The words were hard to find, and in place of speaking them, he recreated another moment from their first meeting when he wrapped one hand around her elbow. Shortly after, he did the same with her other one. In a unique sort of embrace, Diana slipped her hands onto his waist and watched as the conflicting emotions washed over his once coy-looking face.

Gracious to her host, she decided to put him out of his misery. Smiling wide at him, Diana nodded her head. "I know." She promised him, letting him know that he needed to say anything that was too hard to pronounce right now.

"I hope it's one of the few places left in the world that you've never been to." He skated past her sentiment to regain control of their conversation.

Giggling in a way that would have made Aphrodite proud, Diana was pleased she could answer him honestly, "Actually, it is."

That information caused Bruce to perk up in a way that only someone who knew him the way she did would have noticed. "Good."

She laughed once again. Then, in her own way of poking fun at Bruce, she added in a low tone of voice, "And I'm more than happy to explore it with you."

The trip could have been canceled after that. She didn't need it anymore.

No, making Bruce blush as a grown man was more than enough of a treat for her.

Nevertheless, she couldn't wait to see how many more times she could make him blush while they were in Bermuda.

Together, for the holidays.

* * *

Looking at a map of Gotham, those three locations are indeed in a triangle! It's such a convoluted way to give Diana a three in one gift but hey, that's Bruce for you! Hope the story was fun for the most part, and once again, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!


End file.
